


You're The Pokes That I've Always Needed

by josywbu



Series: Infinite Possible Ways (To Love You) [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Jealousy, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 11:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18009689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josywbu/pseuds/josywbu
Summary: Peter is jealous of Tony adopting more smart kids.





	You're The Pokes That I've Always Needed

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Could u write a thing about Tony getting more personal interns and Peter gets jealous? Maybe he feels like Tony's replacing him or going to act as a father figure for all of them too, so Peter wouldn't be special or get as much time with him?

It was fun at first.

Mister Stark moving more of his work to the actual R&D labs meant Peter got to hang out with all the other crazy smart kids with an actual internship at Stark Industries which had him thriving. He loved science and he loved tinkering with Tony in his personal lab but out here? There were people who wanted to be his friend apart from Ned, not because he knew the Tony Stark but because they thought he, Peter Parker, was cool.

Screwing around with bots and manufacturing some strong chemical glue for medical purposes (that may or may not have been inspired by his own webbing) was considered cool here which, honestly, that was a first.

Peter had never once in his life been considered cool by anyone other than Ned and that had always been enough. It would always be enough, too. It’s just - he had more than one friend, his aunt and an eccentric superhero billionaire mentor in his corner now and that feeling of belonging somewhere was incredible.

Until suddenly it wasn’t.

Peter hadn’t quite realized that Mister Stark sharing his lab also meant, well, sharing Mister Stark.

They had their desks next to each other, of course, and Peter was officially his personal intern (and unofficially so much more) but they weren’t really alone anymore.

That meant significantly less physical contact (it was him who begged Mister Stark not to embarrass him in front of everyone else so that was on him, really) and no private talks.

After work was a different story altogether when they would ride up the elevator to the penthouse and Mister Stark ruffled his hair and they’d both collapse onto the couch to watch a movie together. None of the other interns got to have that and Peter wasn’t too shy to admit to himself that he was a little smug about it.

So, it was fine that his mentor wasn’t as openly affectionate when they were in R&D. Totally fine.

But then one day a guy, just three years older than Peter called Marc, made him his smoothie because Peter was running late after school and when he got in they were conversing easily and Mister Stark was sipping his drink that was in a different cup than the Spider-Man themed one Peter usually chose for him and he looked happy and content and only interrupted his talk briefly to greet him with a hair ruffle.

No _“How was your day, squirt?”,_ no “ _I’ve been wondering when you’d get here_ ”, no nothing. It was fine, though, because he got that soft smile that was reserved for him and Mister Stark wasn’t obligated to give him this full attention all the time anyway. He was a free man and of course he would want to talk to the people in his lab. He was a futurist, a visionary and, above all, a team player who valued other’s input.

Only when Lizzie figured out a new update for the Stark Phone Mister Stark grinned at her and high fived her with a “Great job, kid.” And that was _Peter’s_ title.

It was ridiculous.

He always told the man how much he hated being called kid and now he had appropriated it as his title? Laughable, ludicrous even. To Mister Stark they were all kids, so what right did Peter have to monopolize a random three letter word?

It was just embarrassing, that was all, looking up every time he heard the nickname and seeing it, coupled with a proud grin, directed at someone else.

But Peter wasn’t a malicious boy. He really wasn’t. He knew how much the genius’ praise meant to every single one of them because he’d been in their shoes and getting acknowledged by their idol was fantastic. They deserved it. He was happy for them, he was.

Just….

Sometimes the nagging voices in his head wouldn’t stop. They would tell him how he wasn’t anything special, how Mister Stark could’ve taken anyone of them in had they been Spider-Man and then they’d be hanging out in his penthouse and they’d get to cuddle up to him during movie nights. Someone else would’ve gotten matching science pun t-shirts and the soothing calls when he woke up from nightmares yet again.

He was Spider-Man - that was all the difference between him and everyone else in the lab and it sucked a little bit to see the man who he had started seeing as more than a mentor and idol and superhero. The man who was filling that empty space in Peter’s heart where the loss of first his dad and then his uncle had sat ever since he could remember. To see that man act encouraging and proud and soft and undeniably parental to other people as well.

Mister Stark liked taking care of people, he liked shaping the future and helping smart guys achieve their goals. It was fine. He just had to keep telling himself that.

It was fine. _Finefinefinefi_ _–_

“Wanna tell me what’s gotten your panties in a twist, kid?”

That word again. That endearment that wasn’t his anymore. The traitor.

He glared, resentment bubbling over. “Don’t call me that.”

Mister Stark raised an eyebrow at him, head cocked to the side as if to analyze him, to gaze right into Peter’s soul.

He didn’t want that.                           

“What?” he snapped then sighed because acting like a petulant child certainly wasn’t the way to go to show his mentor he was worth mentoring. “Sorry. I’m just. I don’t know – weird.”

At his words Tony’s whole posture seemed to melt. Where he had been scrutinizing understanding dawned and a softness covered his features that most people wouldn’t associate with Ironman.

Not Peter, though. For him this was familiar. This was the Tony he knew would always be there to catch him, literally as well as metaphorically. The person who, just like May and Ned, always had an open ear and a free shoulder to cry on whenever he came barreling in with too many emotions in his heart to keep them in.

And he had been an idiot and an asshole for the better part of two weeks, all because of his own stupid insecurities and he knew his deflecting of inside jokes and physical contact had hurt the man and he never wanted to hurt Mister Stark. He had promised himself he wouldn’t ever hurt him and -

Only when Tony scooted closer, put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into his side did he realize he was shaking and he gave way to the burning in his eyes the second his face was buried into the soft fabric of Tony’s shirt and his nose was filled with the calming scent of his mentor.

“Shh,” the man whispered, “it’s alright, you’re alright. I’ve got you.” All the while his hand kept rubbing circles into Peter’s back with just the right amount of pressure to ground him in the moment.

He hated being so weak, hated being so dependent on someone else to tell him it would all be okay but damn him if it didn’t feel good.

“Promise?” he sniffled when the body shaking sobs had died down and he could finally breathe again and embarrassment hadn’t quite settled into his bones yet.

“Always.”

He sounded so certain, so sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that it would be okay and Peter couldn’t help but believe him.

“Now,” Tony cleared his throat, hand traveling up to cup the teenager’s neck ever so gently, “want to tell me what’s gotten you so on edge? I might be able to help.”

“No,” Peter shook his head and buried deeper into the embrace, “it’s stupid anyway. And it’s fine, really, just my own overthinking and stuff.”

Figured that that wouldn’t be enough to soothe the man for whom the term overprotective had been invented.

“Is it about the other interns? Is someone bothering you?”

“No,” he squeaked then tried to keep his voice even as he repeated, “no. Like I said, it’s stupid.”

Tony hummed and that was never a good sign because it meant he was thinking and contrary to popular belief Tony Stark’s emotional intelligence was perceptive enough to pick up on the smallest things when he really put his mind to it. Or maybe that was just in relation to Peter.

“Is it about moving the lab to R&D?”

He sighed, knowing that he was fighting a lost battle but not quite ready to give up yet so he shrugged.

Someone, May probably, had apparently taught the billionaire that a shrug usually meant “yes, but I’d really rather it didn’t” because it didn’t take him much longer to piece together Peter’s deepest fear.

“You’re scared I’m replacing you with some of the other interns and you’re wondering what on earth makes you so special.”

There was a pause in which Peter could’ve denied or confessed it all but he did neither. He stayed quiet and at some point Tony broke the silence again.

“The thing is, buddy-”

Peter’s heart both soared and broke at the conscious use of a different nickname.

“The thing is that I don’t care how smart everyone else is or how many new things they invent. That’s great, they’re happy and that’s good for SI and I’m happy they get to find themselves in science and that I could help them by providing the resources. It’s beneficial for both sides, convenient.”

“But you? You’re my kid. And the whole superheroing and sciencing might’ve been what brought us together in the first place but if you were to take an interest in any other field then I’d move heaven and hell to give you everything I can to achieve your goals no matter how far out of my wheelhouse I am. You’re not convenient, Peter. You’re not supposed to be, I don’t want you to be. I want you to figure out what and who you want to become. I want to be there every step of the way, cheering you on from the sidelines and picking you up should you ever fall.”

“But why- why me?” he asked, voice small and scared.

There was a pause that almost felt heavy, like they breathed out more emotions with every exhale, making the air thick with them. It wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling. It was familiar, revelatory even.

“Do you believe in fate, Pete? Because I do. I might not like the circumstances that brought us together but I’m forever going to be grateful that they did. When I went to Queens to pick up a superhero I didn’t imagine I’d get to meet such a bright eyed, pure intentioned person. Someone who challenged the way I see the world from the very first day. Someone inherently good and perfect. What do they say? Came for Spider-Man, stayed for Peter Parker.”

Despite everything he let out a huff at the attempt of a joke, reveling in the way Mister Stark’s body moved when his did. Like they were one heart, supposed to act as a single unit.

“What’s special about you, Peter, is everything. From the animate way you watch movies, over the ridiculous amount of time you spend dissecting your food and your smarts down to your views and beliefs and kindness.”

“I love you, kid. Nothing anyone is ever going to do will be able to measure up to that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well I'm never gonna like this any more than I do now so I will leave it here. Enjoy x


End file.
